Iraq

Geography

Iraq, a triangle of mountains, desert, and
fertile river valley, is bounded on the east by Iran, on the north by
Turkey, on the west by Syria and Jordan, and on the south by Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait. It is twice the size of Idaho. The country has arid desert
land west of the Euphrates, a broad central valley between the Euphrates
and the Tigris, and mountains in the northeast.

Government

The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein collapsed on
April 9, 2003, after U.S. and British forces invaded the country.
Sovereignty was returned to Iraq on June 28, 2004.

History

From earliest times Iraq was known as
Mesopotamia—the land between the rivers—for it embraces a
large part of the alluvial plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

An advanced civilization existed in this area by 4000
B.C.
Sometime after 2000
B.C.
, the land became the center of the ancient
Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Mesopotamia was conquered by Cyrus the
Great of Persia in 538
B.C.
and by Alexander in
331
B.C.
After an Arab conquest in
637–640, Baghdad became the capital of the ruling caliphate. The
country was pillaged by the Mongols in 1258, and during the 16th,
17th, and 18th centuries was the object of Turkish and Persian
competition.